We often get people who threaten suicide when we do something they don't like. I've mentioned it before on here, for certain. It's a response I've never entirely understood, an adult temper tantrum of the worst sort. Awhile back, I had a patient who was angry for some reason or another who threatened to kill herself. Upon being moved to a locked unit until I could have a suicide screener see her, faced with a possible inpatient psych stay, she became repentant of her threat, naturally.
Patient: "Can I please go home? I didn't really mean it when I said I was going to kill myself."
Me: "Not until the screener sees you tomorrow."
Patient: "Well, fine! If you won't let me go, maybe I'll just kill myself! *few seconds go by* Oh, wait. I didn't mean that one, either."
Me: "That's a healthy response."
#Waaaa!
2 comments:
i'm glad you take people seriously. but i think it is people like these that led to some of the issues i experienced when seeking help.
when i was eighteen (in college, but not really an adult), i was terribly depressed, cutting, besieged by suicidal ideation. i didn't know what to do. so i headed to a nearby psych hospital to see if they could help (the only time i had ever sought help willingly without doing something dumb FIRST).
the doctor on call asked, "what do you want me to do, tie your hands behind your back?" i left, and in the middle of the night, i overdosed. ninety or so prescription drugs (including a bottle of effexor) total. not my shining moment. by the time i regained consciousness and the od wore off, i realized how stupidly i had behaved. but then they WOULDN'T release me. so, off to the psych ward i was transferred.
looking back, i realize how emotionally unstable i really was, and how impulsively i behaved. i also realize that the doctor could have shown some empathy for me and made some helpful recommendations for what to do to stabilize.
Wow. I don't ever make a threat that I'm not willing to follow through. I've heard someone threaten a class action lawsuit while discussing issues with a car mechanic. It was an empty threat. It's inconceivable to me that someone would threaten to take their life to get their own way. Hopefully she was only making a threat but really was not suicidal. I can certainly see teenagers making such threats but an adult?? Wow.
Post a Comment